


Solemnly Swear

by Saaammm



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:13:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saaammm/pseuds/Saaammm
Summary: Maybe if she hadn't blown the windows out of Gregorovitch's shop in front of Sirius Black, things would have turned out differently. Maybe she would have became friends with a nice group of girls.Then again, that was never going to be the case for Esmerelda. They would always be her boys, who else would keep them in line? They wouldn't have it any other way. Nothing would get in the way of that. Nothing. No, not even feelings. Well, maybe a few feelings.
Relationships: James Potter/Original Female Character(s), Sirius Black/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 29





	1. Esmerelda Donahue

On the 3rd of November 1959, London, Sirius Black was brought into the world by Walburga Black. Her screams drowned out his own cries, something that Sirius wouldn't take long to realise would always be the case.

On this very same night, a lot further north of the country in a small village near Newcastle upon Tyne, the doorbell to a gothic and rather daunting looking Victorian building rang repeatedly, it's shrillness ringing out into the otherwise completely silent night. A sign to the side of the bell read 'Winifred Donahue's Orphanage for Magical Children'.

After a few moments of constant ringing, the dull glow of a light flickered at the top floor of the building. As the ringing continued, several more lights at multiple bedroom windows began to turn on and curtains twitched as children peeked out their windows to see who was at the door.

Winifred Donahue opened the front door ever so slightly to peek out, her wand raised defensively out in front of her as she squinted out into the darkness to try and see who was there.

Winifred was a small, frumpy looking woman and though she was only in her mid fifties, she looked as though she could have been a lot older. No matter how calm the woman may have been, she always looked constantly flustered, exhausted and on the edge of a mental breakdown.

She was distracted when the sound of a small cry came from next to her feet. In a wicker basket, woven with a mix of wild flowers, lay a baby that couldn't have been more than a few days old, swaddled tightly in a knitted blanket.

The minute Winifred had stooped down to take the infant in her arms, a loud crack echoed through the night, suggesting that whoever had left the baby was now long gone.

In an envelope that had been left with the child, a letter read simply;

'My name is Esmerelda. Please keep me safe as my parents weren't able. Tell me every day that I am loved by them.'

When Winifred had lifted the baby from the basket, she found a bundled package with another note attached to it. Upon unwrapping the package, she discovered a clear vial containing several strands of silver hair. Along with that, a silver charm bracelet with only one charm attached, a singular rose.

The second note read;

'Gringotts Bank. Vault 236. Here you will find funds enough for the creation of our daughter's wand. When she is of age, please ensure that the hair provided is it's core. We are sorry we can't leave her more.'

Holding the snoozing baby in her arms, with little known about her other than her first name, Winifred did as she did with all the unknown children that came into her care. She gifted them with her own last name. She was as good as family now.

As Esmerelda grew, Winifred and the rest of the staff began to suspect that she was part Veela. Her hair was so blonde and fair that it was verging on silver and from a young age, she was by far the most beautiful child that they had ever seen. Winifred would often refer to her as her 'Little China Doll' despite the fact the girl was anything but fragile.

The staff would dread the day where they would have to cut the children's hair. Esmerelda used to scream so loud that the noise rivalled that of a de-potted mandrake. She would squirm in her chair, kick and even bite if anyone managed to get close enough.

Veela weren't native to the UK, which meant that there weren't very many people who knew much about their offspring but Winifred tried her best. One of the first things she had learnt was that if a Veela had their hair plucked before their death, it was rumoured it would either cause death or serious disfigurement. It certainly explained Esmerelda's refusal to get any more than a few inches taken off her own hair. It also cleared up what the hair had been in the vial, Winifred had originally thought it had been unicorn hair but was now sure that it either belonged to the child's mother or grandmother.

As the years went by, there wasn't a moment where Esmerelda didn't keep Winifred and the rest of the staff on their toes. Having never looked after a child that was part Veela, Winifred was unsure if Esmerelda's wild and unpredictable behaviour was down to her Veela ancestry or if it was just her own personality. She had a feeling it was the latter.

At age 8, Esmerelda had followed the local teens from the village onto a bus that took them into Newcastle City Centre. While exploring the city, she had gotten lost and spent most of the day wandering around asking muggles how to get back to Miss Winifred's Orphanage for Magical Children.

After a man dressed in a suit and tie told her not to tell such silly lies, Esmerelda had gotten so angry she had accidentally conjured a bunch of flowers. Another passing by muggle had laughed in astonishment and tossed her money, assuming her to be part of a street act.

It amazed her that muggles were foolish enough to hand over their money for something that was little more than accidental magic in the wizarding world. Once she had realised this, she spent the next hour entertaining the majority of the high street in an attempt to raise enough money to afford a bus ticket back to the village.

As it turned out, she needn't have worried about purchasing the ticket as when she was leaving a sweet shop, having just bought herself a bag of sweets for the journey home, two wizards from the ministry of magic had caught her and returned her back to Winifred. Winifred had never been both so worried, relieved and embarrassed in her life.

She apologised repeatedly on behalf of Esmerelda, explaining that none of the other children would have dared to do something so foolish. Winifred often found herself apologising on behalf of Esmerelda's actions.

Esmerelda couldn't understand why everyone was so bothered, didn't they know muggles were willing to pay to see magic? She'd seen a poster for it herself in the city centre. Tickets were £5 each and judging by the picture, all that he was able to do was pull a rabbit from a hat. He must've been raking it in for a squib.

She had been grounded for two weeks after that incident. Not that it made much difference. Every time someone would take a meal up to Esmerelda, she was never in her room. Often she could be found in the woods behind the orphanage, hanging upside down from trees and building forts with the other children.

Winifred was almost grateful when Esmerelda turned 11, it meant that she wouldn't have to worry about where she was for the majority of the year. As much as she loved Esmerelda, she was happy for someone else to try and control the whirlwind. Perhaps it might even calm her down?

With her birthday falling two months after September, Esmerelda was almost 12 by the time her Hogwart's acceptance letter came. She would be one of the oldest students in her year, almost a year older than some of them.

As was with anything regarding Esmerelda, fulfilling the parents' wishes for their daughter's wand was not easy.

Though she tried to show Ollivander that she had the funds and material required for him to craft the wand, he flat out refused, claiming that he didn't work with Veela hair as he found the material far too temperamental.

Winifred then travelled with Esmerelda down a side street off Diagon Alley that led to Carkitt Market where 'Wands by Gregorovitch' was located. Winifred had hoped that Ollivander would have been the one to craft Esmerelda's wand- she had heard rumours about the strange wand maker that was Mykew Gregorovitch.

At first, Gregorovitch also refused to craft the wand, claiming that he no longer completed bespoke wands. However, upon laying his eyes on Esmerelda, the skilled wand maker recognised her hair to that similar of a Veela and took a shine to the idea after realising she was no ordinary witch. A Veela witch with a wand of Veela hair core. Interesting indeed.

Gregorovitch had always been a fan of the unusual and was curious to see how the core they were providing would fair in her hands. Not to mention, he jumped at the opportunity to provide what Ollivander could not.

Gregorovitch took two weeks to create the wand, spending most of that time trying to decide the best wood to pair with the hair. Eventually, he decided on the Acacia wood, known to produce wands that were considered tricky and often refused to produce magic for anyone other than the owner of the wand. Gregorovitch liked the idea of a tricky core being paired with a tricky wood, believing they would balance each other out while simultaneously producing the most powerful kind of magic when used by a gifted individual.

Despite not being known as a very approachable or likeable man, he had taken a shine to the young witch and fulfilled her request of 'putting flowers on it'. At the base of the wand, he had spent the majority of one morning carving vines into it, complete with several roses. Gregorovitch completed the wand the morning Esmerelda was due to leave for Hogwarts.

When he had presented it to Esmerelda, he had exclaimed it was most likely one of his best creations. He failed to also mention it was most likely one of the most unpredictable wands that he had ever created.

He cautiously passed the wand over to Esmerelda who eagerly grabbed it. The moment her grip tightened around the wand, a loud blast sounded and the windows of the shop imploded, shattering glass onto the street and causing several passerby's to shout out.Wands flew from the shelves and several of Gregorovitch's assistants dove for cover behind the counters.

Despite apologising repeatedly and trying to shove the wand back into Gregorovitch's hand, both Esmerelda and Winifred stood astounded when all he did was let out a roar of laughter that almost sounded maniacal.

"No apologies. That vond has exactly the power I hoped it vould" He told them, much to Winifred's horror. That was the last thing that Esmerelda should have in her possession.

Unfortunately, Winifred had no choice but to let Esmerelda take the wand, after all it had been paid for and there was no time for her to find another.

As they left the shop, the pair bumped into a boy with jet black hair who had watched the whole event occur with a wide grin on his face.

"That was wicked." He told Esmerelda as Winifred quite literally dragged her along behind her.

Esmerelda took a moment to look back over her shoulder at the boy, despite stumbling several times as she was dragged. "Thanks!" She called back.

"I'm Sirius! I'll see you on the train, will I?" He shouted after her, shaking his head to rid the small shards of glass from his hair that had rained down upon him.

She laughed, ecstatic at the thought of someone who was actually impressed by the mayhem she had caused.

"Yeah, you will! I'm Esme!" She yelped as Winifred pulled her over a curb and she stumbled, eventually looking away from the boy so she could see where she was going.

"I think I just made a friend, Winifred."

"Merlin help us all then Esmerelda, dear..." Winifred huffed, though she still paused to send her a small, reassuring smile down at her nevertheless. Behind it, she was terrified about what Esmerelda was going to get up to with a wand like that.

Maybe they could get her a calmer wand to practice with come Christmas break?


	2. Bye Snivellus

When Winifred had reached the platform of 9 and 3/4, her original feelings of relief to get a break from Esme soon turned to feelings of dread. She was plagued by thoughts of her not fitting in or being teased for being different, what if she struggled to make friends at all? What if none of the professors could handle how naughty she was? 

Looking down at Esme, this was probably the quietest she had ever been since she had learned to talk. 

Winifred didn't have long to worry as soon enough, the young boy from outside of Gregorovitch's shop came tearing down the platform, weaving in and out of the crowds and causing several people to jump out the way of the trunk he was haphazardly hauling behind him at high speed. 

"Hey!" He greeted them, coming to a stop in front of the pair. He grinned at Esme wildly, panting heavily from his run. 

"Hi" Esme greeted him again, this time without quite as much gusto as earlier. Her stomach was tied into several knots. 

"You coming? You can sit with me if you like, I wanna see that wand!" He took a moment to look at Winifred who looked absolutely horrified at the thought. 

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her!" He assured her. 

Winifred didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. 

Esme however had already clearly made up her mind, the very presence of this boy made her excited to get started. She jumped up to kiss Winifred's cheek as a goodbye before she grabbed her own trunk and began to run after Sirius toward the train. 

"Don't forget to write! I've packed you a sandwich, be careful- Don't use that wand on the train!" Winifred shouted after her, but it was pointless, her little tearaway was already dragging her trunk onto the train with the help of her new friend. 

On the train, Sirius burst into a carriage where three fellow first years sat; a boy with round spectacles, a girl with flaming red hair and a rather shy looking boy with a hooked nose and hair longer than Sirius. 

"Hi, can we sit here?" Sirius asked, already tossing his trunk onto the over head storage area above the seats before then doing the same for Esme's trunk. He hadn't exactly given them much choice. 

"Sure!" The spectacled boy answered, moving down the the seat so that they could both sit down. 

"I'm James." 

"Sirius, and this is-"

"Esme" She interrupted before Sirius had the chance to become known as the one who spoke for her. 

"I'm Lily."

The boy sat next to Lily had said nothing, so Lily introduced him on his behalf. "This is Severus."

Not long after the train journey began, the conversation eventually landed on the topic of the Hogwart's houses. 

"Slytherin?" The boy who introduced himself as James spoke the word as though it tasted awful in his mouth after hearing Severus mention it to Lily. 

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" He turned to face Sirius and Esme. For the first time since she had met him, Sirius didn't seem so confident anymore. 

"My whole family have been in Slytherin." He replied, no longer smiling. 

"Blimey, I thought you seemed alright!" James replied. 

Sirius grinned back at him, sensing his teasing tone. 

"Maybe I'll break tradition. If you've got the choice, where are you going?" He asked. 

"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Just like my dad." He suddenly turned back to Esme and Sirius did the same. 

"What about you Esme, does your family have a tradition for the house they're in?" 

She just shrugged. "I don't even know who my mum and dad are, so knowing what house they were in would be a long shot." She joked. 

The awkwardness consumed Lily and Severus and they inwardly cringed at James putting his foot in his mouth. 

Sirius and James however sensed the humour in Esme's tone and they didn't miss a beat. 

"I wish I didn't know my parents. You're so lucky." Sirius told her, shaking his head to toss the hair from his eyes. 

James snorted at Sirius, "I'm not surprised if they're all Slytherins. That's alright Esme, you can join me and Sirius in Gryffindor." He lifted up an imaginary sword proudly. 

"I thee dub you, Esme of Gryffindor. First of your family to start a Gryffindor tradition"

"...that you know of anyway..." Sirius added cheekily, causing the three to burst out laughing whilst Lily and Severus stared at them, seemingly not finding the humour in the conversation. 

Sirius sat up suddenly, turning to face Esme. "Let's see it then!" He demanded. 

"See what?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"Your wand. The destroyer of Gregorovitch's shop!" He cried, dramatically. 

"That was you? Whoah!" James also swivelled round to face Esme as did Lily and Severus out of sheer curiosity. "They were cleaning that up when I walked past with mum and dad..." 

Esme was never one to boast, usually due to the fact she rarely had anything to boast about, but the confidence of her two new friends was beginning to rub off on her. She reached into her robes and pulled out her wand. 

"Gregorovitch said it's probably one of his best creations." She remarked proudly, pulling it back out of Sirius' grasp when he reached for it. It was probably for the best that windows of the train stayed fully intact. 

Severus scoffed slightly, unable to contain it and immediately Esme, Sirius and James turned to look at him. 

"Something wrong?" James asked. 

"Well he didn't say that did he? One of his finest creations isn't going to be for some first year!" Severus looked down his nose at Esme. 

"Well, uh, yes actually he did say that cos I was there when he said it. I was there when she blew the windows out of the shop as well." Sirius told him, copying Severus' nasal tone. 

"You blew the windows out of the shop? How dangerous! What's it made of?" Lily asked her curiously though she was rather alarmed at the thought of a wand doing such a thing. The most her own wand had done was flicker the lights on and off. 

"Acacia wood and Veela hair core." She told her. 

"What's a Veela?" Lily replied, her forehead creasing. 

Severus answered before Esme could. "A half woman half bird thing. Freaks." He was attempting to dismiss the power that Esme's wand possessed but instead had managed to insult her very existence. 

Her face flushed furiously and she shoved the wand back in her pocket. "For your information, Snivellus, I happen to be part Veela."

James and Sirius, who were already far from keen on this boy roared with laughter at the new nickname Esme had just given him. Despite neither of them knowing themselves what a Veela was, they jumped to her defence. 

"You've a cheek to call anyone a bird with a beak like that." Sirius smirked at him, tapping the end of his own nose. 

Lily sat up angrily at their words and her face burned red with anger just as Esme's had done. 

"Come on Severus, let's go!" 

'Ooooo' The two other boys chorused in a mocking manner of Lily's tone and fell about laughing once more as James attempted to trip Severus when he walked past. 

"Bye Snivellus!" James shouted, slamming the compartment door shut. 

After the three of them had finished laughing, Esme moved over to sit on the opposite side of the two boys, pulling her legs up onto the seat so she could sit cross legged. 

"So..." Sirius said after a long moment of silence. "What is a Veela?" 

"I've really no idea." Esme answered before the three fell into another fit of laughter.


	3. Veela Research

September 1971 - First Year - Age 11

Any anxiety that Esme had previously before she had boarded the train, the few hours she had spent with James and Sirius had pushed it to the back of her mind completely. The three were all pushing and shoving each other in an attempt to get to the front of the crowd before they entered The Great Hall for the sorting ceremony.

"I'm Donahue, so I'll be before you two!" She exclaimed, side stepping the two wrestling boys and moving in front of them.

"Unlucky Donahue, I'm Black so I guess I'll be taking that place." He brushed himself down and took a haughty step in front of her, grabbing her by the top of her head and pushing her back a step.

James groaned; "This might be the first time I've ever regretted being a Potter. You two will already be sat at the Gryffindor table well before I will be. You better save me a seat!"

Sure enough, Sirius had been the first in his family to break tradition and he proudly pumped his fist in the air as the Gryffindor table erupted with applause when the first student of the year was placed with them.

Soon after, Esme took her seat in the stool and listened to the hat as it whispered in her ear. Sirius held her gaze the whole time, dramatically gesturing that he was saving the seat next to him for her and clasping his hands together in a praying motion.

Again, the Gryffindor table broke out into applause as the sorting hat announced Esme's house. James gave her a fist bump on her way to her table and as she sat down, Sirius grabbed her shoulders, shaking her wildly as he cheered with the others.

It was another two students before the huffy girl from earlier, Lily, was called up. Sirius elbowed Esme in the ribs, making sure she was paying attention. "Look!" He insisted.

"What else do you thinking I'm watching?" She asked him sarcastically, shoving his elbow away though she couldn't help but grin back at him. He had a rather infectious smile.

"Gryffindor!"

"Very interesting. I'd like to know how this one plays out!" Sirius muttered to Esme whilst they both clapped along with others.

Esme watched the small, sad smile she gave to the Severus boy before nervously making her way over to the table, sitting down opposite Esme.

Name after name was called and eventually, after a small and rather terrified looking boy called Peter took his seat next to the lanky and pale looking boy named Remus, it was finally James' turn.

As expected, he got his wish and he confidentially strolled over to the table, acting as though he hadn't been worried at all. He daren't mention to anyone that the hat had mentioned the idea of Slytherin.

"As expected." James announced when Severus was sorted into Slytherin.

"Looks as though they've sorted Slytherin by the amount of grease they've got in their hair this year." He continued, grinning proudly as he managed to gain a few laughs from some of the older students of Gryffindor.

Esme laughed along but felt a little guilty when she saw how uncomfortable Lily looked. She was now alone and without the one person she seemed to have taken a liking to.

"Oi..." Esme hissed across the table as the feast began and everyone began talking amongst themselves excitedly. She nudged Lily's foot with her own under the table, causing her to look up.

"It's just a house...who cares. It's where you sleep and who you have classes with. That's it." She told her quietly, giving her a reassuring smile.

Lily looked at her, seemingly unsure if she wanted to trust the girl she had already fallen out with only hours ago.

"Yeah...you're right..." Lily nodded, smiling back at her timidly. She supposed she was going to have get used to her one way or another- they would be sharing a dorm after all.

January 1972 - First Year - Age 12

"You'll never guess what me and James have just learnt in the library." Sirius announced, falling down next to Esme at lunch. They had arrived late and as a result there wasn't much left so Sirius began picking at what was left on Esme's plate.

"Pack it in!" She complained, her mouth full as she slapped his hand away.

"Pack it in" Sirius mocked her northern accent, laughing at her as he poured himself a drink.

"I'm more worried about why you two were in the library at all." Remus remarked.

Peter snickered at Remus' words but stopped immediately when James and Sirius shot them both a glower.

Remus' smile didn't disappear as he sensed the humour behind it but Peter being Peter, he was still terrified he was going to upset Sirius or James and as a result be kicked from the friendship group he had managed to join.

"As we were saying..." James continued, taking a break to down a cup of water.

Whilst Esme was focusing on James, Sirius attempted to slide his hand in from the side to grab some more food.

Without even looking, she slapped at his hand again. He was far too predicable which said a lot considering they had only been friends for four months.

"Yeah, so...me and Sirius were in the library and we happened to be talking about our lovely half breed here..." He gestured to Esme fondly who rolled her eyes at the dig. It was what most of Slytherin called her.

"-and we thought, while we were there...we may as well do a little digging about Veelas..." Sirius jumped in.

"We skipped the boring parts, but do you want to know what the best part is?" James turned to Remus and Peter who were looking back at him curiously.

"It means in a few years, she's gonna be fiiiiiit" Sirius lengthened the word for as long as he could, only stopping when James hit him with a half eaten bread bun.

"Idiot. We agreed I could say that part!" James exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Esme's felt the blood rising to her face. She was absolutely horrified at the thought of any of these boys finding her remotely attractive either now or in the future.

"Shut up." She growled, ducking her head down and shoving a forkful of food into her mouth.

"I wouldn't worry about it, you've got a good few years being a freaky little half breed yet..." James laughed.

"Then maybe I'll allow you to be my girlfriend in fifth year." Sirius waggled his eyebrows at her despite the fact she wasn't even looking at him.

"Why? No one said anything about you becoming fit in a few years." She shot back.

"Well that's already pretty obvious. I mean, look at me now! I can only get better from this point."

"I'm going!" She announced, rising to her feet and pulling her bag onto her shoulder as the group of boys continued to roar with laughter.

"Finally!" Sirius cheered, pulling her plate in front of him and throwing a cherry tomato into his mouth.

He called after her once more as she stormed down the Great Hall, the tips of her ears now beginning to match the shade of her face.

"Don't worry about it, Es! You could be full Veela and I'd still be the better looking one! It won't ever be your burden to bear."

"Still insist on being friends with a group of boys?" Lily asked her, having left the same time as she saw Esme leave. She was practically running to match her friend's pace.

"If any of them ever find me attractive in any way. That's the end of that friendship."


	4. Birdie

June 1973 - Second Year - Age 12

"How hard can it be?" James groaned, folding his arms and leaning back against the trunk of the tree.

"If it was easy James, everyone would be one." Esme answered, kicking out at Sirius as he attempted grab the branch that she had been reaching for. He snickered and grabbed her leg, tugging her back down and scrambling up past her and further up the tree.

It was the beginning of summer, 1973 and they had all just finished their second year at Hogwarts. Despite what many had thought, all five of them had remained friends from the day that they had met. They were rarely ever found without at least one other member of the group. The only time that Esme wouldn't be with them was usually whenever she was with Lily or quite obviously the girl's dorm.

This was the second summer that they were all spending at the Potter's house. They were not always all together at one time, but James would only ever go at most one or two days a week without seeing any of his friends. Esme loved any excuse to get away from the Orphanage- as much as she loved Winifred, she had gotten far too comfortable spending most days with the boys. Like James, Esme would at most be alone once or twice a week. If she wasn't with the boys, she was at Lily's house.

For obvious reasons, no one visited Sirius's house. He never wanted to be there, never mind have his friends visiting. Sometimes they would visit Remus' house, but not very often. It was more often than not that Esme would visit Remus by herself on the days before and after the full moon.

He never had much energy on these days and as a result, rather enjoyed exploring the woodlands that surrounded his home. It was pretty isolated and far from the village which meant it was full of both magical creatures and plants. From her very first year, Esme had fallen in love with Herbology and care of magical creatures. James and Sirius teased her for it, but Remus was quite happy to sit reading his books whilst Esme sat and studied the life of the forest.

Peter had been far too embarrassed to invite anyone over to his house. This was mostly due to the fact that he had told his parents that Esme was his girlfriend and he was terrified that they would mention it if they came over. So usually, they would all end up at James' house and spend their days down at the river that ran through the village.

"What would you know, Birdie?" Sirius teased, offering a hand out to her once he had reached his usual seat in the tree. He hauled her up and she took a seat next to him on the large branch, swinging her legs back forth. "You're already half way there, being part chicken and all." He held up his arm defensively as Esme swung for him.

Before an argument could ensue, Remus spoke up. "Honestly, you guys don't need to do this. It's too dangerous!"

Peter looked as though he was in full agreement with this statement. He was stuck in a dilemma- he didn't want to risk becoming an Animagus at such a young age, what if it went wrong? He also worried about the thought of being anywhere near a werewolf, even if it was one of his closest friends. His other dilemma was that if he didnt become one, he would be left out of something.

"And let you be stuck with Es for the rest of your transformations at school? That's worse than being alone, sure- Ow" James rubbed his head as Esme snapped off a twig and threw it at his head.

As much as Esme would have liked to join the boys in their mission to become Animagi, the fact that she wasn't completely human herself, prevented her from becoming one. It wasn't all bad, it meant that with the aid of James' cloak, she would sneak out and accompany Remus through his transformations. It had been a risky experiment, but after plenty research by James, Sirius and herself, they were confident that Remus' werewolf form wouldn't consider her as a human and therefore, not attack her. That was as long as he didn't feel provoked and Esme didn't fancy provoking a werewolf into attacking her.

Remus had at first been horrified to find out that she had taken such a risk and forbade her from doing it again, believing it to have been a fluke she had survived the first time. Of course it was pointless, she wasn't going to listen. And she didn't. She would lose sleep every full moon with Remus and spend the next few days trying not to fall asleep in class.

Remus was the only student in the whole school to have heard her sing. Veela were known for their ability to entrance people with their voices and this trait hadn't skipped Esme. Though her voice wasn't quite as powerful as that of a full Veela, it was enough to calm Remus whenever he was going through a particularly difficult transformation.

"I quite enjoy it really..." Remus said quietly, smiling as Esme fell backwards from the branch so that she was swinging upside down in front of him. She grinned back at him widely.

"They're going to do it anyway, Remus. Those two can't stand thinking they're missing out on something." Her waist length hair was practically touching the grass as she hung from the branch. She looked over at James who was busy ruffling his hair up in an attempt to make it look as messy as possible.

"I'm not helping you back up." Sirius told her, plainly.

"Who said I wanted to be back up?" Esme replied.

"You in a few minutes when all the blood rushes to your head."

'You should feel quite at home there anyway, half breed. Surprised you've never made a nest." James chimed in.

"If you two want me to steal anymore mandrake leaves for your experiment next year, you best start being nice to me or else I'll only help Peter and he can join mine and Remus' club."

Peter's face burned bright red at the thought of Esme spending any time alone with him. Sirius noticed this but chose to keep it to himself. There was no fun in embarrassing him for it in front of Esme. He'd get him for it later.

James shoved his glasses further up the bridge of his nose and began to pull at the grass, ripping it out from the ground and tossing it into Esme's face.

"We'll look into it more tomorrow." He said.

"No can do, I'm staying at Lily's tomorrow night. Sirius...can you help me up now please?" Sirius just smirked and ignored her request, leaning back against the trunk.

"Can I come?" James grinned at her.

"Unless she's suddenly decided she doesn't despise the ground you walk on, I'm not convinced you'll be welcomed. Plus, you being in such close proximity to Snivellus probably wouldn't be the best idea. Sirius, I'm serious I'm beginning to see black spots..."

"Snivellus?" Sirius sat up suddenly and looked down at her in disgust. "Please tell me you're not going to be spending any time with him!"

"No...but trust me, I'd rather sit in awkward silence with him than spend any time with Lily's sister. Sirius would you please-" She yelped as Sirius suddenly grabbed her outstretched hand and yanked her back up.

"You take that back, Birdie" He warned her, pointing a finger in her face.

Esme blinked a few times in a dazed fashion as she waited for the blood to travel to anywhere else but her brain.

"Es, That was as good as treason what you said there." James told her.

"Didn't realise being a pure blood made you royalty these days. Maybe Slytherin is the best place for you two." She replied, resting her hand on Sirius' head and placing her full weight on him as she began to climb back down the tree.

"Ow- You fat cow!" Sirius complained though he grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Shut up, dog breath." She dropped back down onto the grass and fell down in a heap next to James.

"If you could choose what animal you'd transform into...what would you choose?" She asked.

There was a silence that fell over the boys as they thought about her question.

"Nothing that has any prey..." Peter said after a while.

"That's smart to be fair...which is surprising from you Peter. What were you thinking? A Lion?" Esme looked over at him.

"A Lion? Peter?" James exclaimed, laughing at the thought.

"If anyone is going to be the Lion-" He stood up and puffed out his chest. "It's me."

There was a loud thud as Sirius dropped down from the tree.

"And to think..." Remus began, shaking his head at James. "...People call you big headed and arrogant."

"I'd be a wolf...though someone already has dibs on that one" Sirius winked at Remus.

The rest of the group all rose, collecting their belongings that they had left at the base of the tree before they began to make their way back to the Potter house.

"I'd be a-"

"You're already a creature." Sirius cut Esme off.

Esme scowled, sticking her foot out to trip him up. "You've got a bloody cheek to jinx half of Slytherin for calling me that, Sirius. You're the worst out of all of them"

"Hey!" He complained, dropping an arm around her shoulder. "I'm allowed. You're our Birdie."

"You're the only one that calls her that." Remus pointed out.

"I like it." Sirius shrugged his shoulders, smirking slightly as Esme shoved him away from her.

"Freak." She muttered.

"Half breed."


	5. Shag, Marry, Kill?

December 1973 - Fourth Year - Age 15

"I think you need to take a visit to the hospital ward..." Lily told Esme in a stern voice as they were returning back to the common room from an evening in the library. Severus had turned up in the hopes of finding Lily alone but upon seeing that she was already sat with Esme, he decided to hide in a corner behind a pile of books instead.

Esme didn't usually go out of her way to terrorise him but the case usually was, wherever she was, Black and Potter would be more than likely turn up eventually. He hadn't wanted to take that risk today.

"What are you on about?" Esme replied, stifling a yawn as she sluggishly hauled her bag back onto her shoulder when it slipped off.

"That! Right there!" Lily exclaimed, pointing at her. "You've been so tired recently! You look dreadful-"

"Thanks Lil..." Esme smiled wryly. She wasn't wrong, she had bags under eyes almost as big as Remus'.

"You know that's not how I meant it. I just mean that lately, you've been fighting to stay awake through classes, you're constantly yawning, you could barely keep your eyes open back there in the library!"

"That probably had something to do with the fact you felt the need to read out every "interesting" fact you find in a book."

"I mean it, Es!" She huffed before ducking her head closer to hers. "Have you gotten your period yet? Maybe you're suffering from blood loss? How heavy is your flow?" She whispered.

"Lily!" Esme jerked away from her, pulling a horrified face.

"What?" She laughed. "Too much?"

"Way too much. You're such a freak..." Esme whined. They entered the common room and both flopped down onto the sofa in front of the fire.

"I'm fine. I'm just tired from quidditch practice and that..." She assured her, pulling her jumper over her head and using it to create a makeshift pillow to prop her head up.

"That being...?" Lily persisted, folding her arms. she hated knowing that there was obviously something that Esme was keeping something from her. It wasn't even the fact that she had a secret, it was that she was genuinely worried for her. Normally she would have assumed that she had been sneaking out with the boys late in the night, but the only one that looked as tired as Esme was Remus- except he usually always looked a bit peaky.

"If I had a mother, I'd like to hope she wasn't half as nosey and pushy as you." Esme raised an eyebrow at her.

Lily opened her mouth to respond but was distracted when another body collapsed onto the sofa beside her.

"Hello, Evans." James drawled, running a hand through his hair as he gave her a toothy grin.

"Goodbye, Potter." She replied, not even sparing a moment to look his way.

It didn't discourage him. In fact, it would have thrown him off if she had reacted any other way.

"Hello Esme. Hello James. How are you Esme? I'm good thanks, James. Yourself?" Esme muttered to herself.

"When, have we ever had a conversation that went like that? I would never ask you how you are...besides, you're the first one to bring up if you're not." James replied, leaning forward to look at her past Lily.

"Very funny." She mumbled tiredly, rolling her eyes.

There was another soft thud as Sirius seemed to appear from nowhere, falling down into the arm chair closest to Esme. Immediately he kicked his legs up and moved to rest his feet on Esme's lap, making a point of attempting to jab her stomach with his feet. He had no interest whatsoever in engaging in a conversation with Lily. As far as he was concerned, she was friends with Snivellus and that was enough of a reason to think she wasn't all there. Not to mention she never laughed at a single one of his jokes, another reason to think she wasn't all there.

"What're we talking about?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and tilting his head back as he poured the last of his sherbet into his mouth, tapping the bottom of the packet to make sure nothing was left behind.

"Periods. Now piss off." Esme answered, shoving his feet off her immediately.

James pulled a face but Sirius didn't even flinch. He gasped and placed a hand over his heart.

"No way, you too? I just knew it was only going to be a matter of time before me and you synced up." He exclaimed, tossing his empty sweet packet into the fire. The flames immediately turned a vibrant pink as they engulfed the sherbet that had been stuck to the inside of the packet.

"Tell me, Lily. Are you also in sync with Birdie and I?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I really think that's something we could bond over, don't you think?"

"I'm going up, are you coming Esme?" Lily asked, refusing to enter into a conversation with either boy. Esme couldn't help it, she snorted with laughter at Sirius. She didnt know how Lily managed to keep a straight face when they came out with stuff like that. Sirius rolled his eyes and fell back into the chair once more- Evans didnt have a funny bone in her body.

"No, I've had four years of this now, I'll survive." She answered.

"Sweet dreams Evans, I trust they will be if they're about me!" James called after her, swivelling around on the sofa to watch her as she left.

"I admire your dedication to the cause." Esme told him, pulling her legs up onto the sofa and tucking them beneath her as she nestled her head into her jumper/pillow.

"What are you doing?" James demanded, returning his attention back to her the moment he noticed she was getting comfy. Sirius moved to take the place that Lily had left and looked back and forth between the two as he twirled his wand between his fingers.

"Getting comfy, why?" She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"There's no time for that! It's time for our evening run!" He exclaimed.

"You can piss off. We did enough bloody laps at practise yesterday." She shot back before she lowered her voice. "If you think for even a second, after I spent all night with Remus without a single hour of sleep, that I'm leaving this common room for the rest of the night, think again you speccy twat."

James and Sirius shared a look, trying their best to hide their smirks. "A simple no, would've sufficed." He feigned hurt, pouting at her. "Sure I can't tempt you?"

He jumped up from the sofa as she suddenly made a move to kick out at him. Sirius caught her leg before she could do any real damage and he gripped her leg tightly, looking down at her in amusement.

"You really are on your period, huh?" He commented.

He groaned as Esme pushed herself back up from her slouched position and punched his arm as hard as she could. "Dead arm..." He wheezed, dropping her leg.

"Good. Now be quiet."

Sirius frowned, rubbing the spot on his arm where she had hit him but he did as he was told, waving to James half heartedly as he left for his run with Dirk Cresswell. Esme couldn't help but notice that he looked about as enthusiastic as Esme had been at the thought of a run.

Esme sighed in relief as she was finally given the peace she had been desperate for all day. She settled back into the sofa and leaned her head on her jumper, closing her eyes. It couldn't have been more than five minutes of silence between the two before Sirius began to use his wand as a drum stick, beating it against Esme's leg that was still outstretched over his lap.

"Sirius." She growled, refusing to open her eyes.

"Yes, Birdie?"

"That's very annoying."

"Oh. Right. Okay. Sorry" But he didn't stop. In fact, he only changed the beat, this time joining in his free hand, slapping her shin in time with his wand.

She peeked one eye open at him. "Get your hand off me before I break it."

"But I'm bored..." He whined, throwing his head back and staring up at the ceiling. "Let's go do something!"

"I'm tired. Go do something with Remus." She told him, pulling her leg back and pushing herself up straighter. It was clear she wasn't going to get any peace with Sirius around.

"Non surprisingly, he's more tired than you are." He answered.

"Do something with Peter then."

"I don't know where he is."

"Then look. That'll keep you busy."

"No..." He whined. "Come on...please? Peter could be anywhere and you know what he's like, he's so nervous to do anything." He looked at her hopefully, twirling his wand between his fingers. "Don't be so boring...." He trailed away, knowing how much she hated when he said that.

She stared at him blankly for a few more seconds before tossing her head back and sighing. "Fine, but no longer than half an hour, okay?"

"Deal." He agreed, jumping up to his feet. He ran up to the boy's dorm, taking the steps two at a time as he went to collect James' cloak from beneath his bed. As long as the secret was kept between the five of them, James never had a problem with any of them borrowing the cloak.

The curtains were pulled shut around Remus' bed, he was was more than likely fast asleep already. The day after his change was usually the worst for him, he barely had the energy to do anything other than attend his lessons so it didnt surprise Sirius that he had already turned in for the night.

He took a double take as he noticed Peter sitting on the end of his bed, engaging in a conversation with Alex Whitlock and Dean Waters. Where had he been? His bed was littered with empty sweet wrappers and he was already half way through a packet of Sour Spiders.

"Peter? You been up here the whole time?" He asked, bending down under James' bed to retrieve the cloak.

He nodded his head, leaning forward to see what Sirius was doing. "I came up with Remus earlier but he's asleep now."

"Perfect, Sirius! Just the man." Alex announced, falling back onto his bed and propping himself up by his elbows.

"I usually am, but how may I help on this particular occasion?" He called up to Alex whilst he was shoving the cloak into his bag from beneath James' bed.

"Who would you rather? McKinnon, Evans or Donahue?" Dean answered, tossing a jelly bean up into the air and missing it completely as he attempted to catch it in his mouth. Instead, it bounced off his forehead and fell to the floor.

There was a loud bang as Sirius smacked his head off the base of the bed. He swore loudly before slowly crawling back out from under the bed, rubbing the back off his head angrily. "What?" He asked.

"Shag, Marry, Kill?" Alex confirmed.

Sirius pulled a face at them. "Out of all the girls in Hogwarts, why those three?" He looked over to Peter who just shrugged, laughing it off despite the small rush of colour to his face.

"Because we're going by house and our year. Those are the only three in our house and in our year that are actually worth playing the game with. It wouldn't be as fun if we included Dorcas. We're doing a weirdos round next."

"Take Donahue out and I'll play." He told them. He felt bad for Dorcas, she really was rather odd but completely harmless. Esme adored her so he wasn't sure he liked the idea of her ever finding out Sirius played a game in which Dorcas was considered to be in the weird category.

"No way!" The two boys exclaimed simultaneously. "Where's the fun in that? We won't tell her what you said, we'll tell you ours if you like?"

Sirius sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Fine, but make it quick." He didnt want to risk Esme getting sick of waiting and going to bed instead.

"Easy. Kill McKinnon because she loves herself, shag Donahue because she's fit as anything and marry Evans because she seems like she'd treat you nice." Dean answered, laughing. "I would've married Donahue but I couldn't be arsed for the fact people would constantly never actually believe someone that fit would marry me. Too intimidating."

"Kill Evans, shag Marlene and marry Donahue. Evans would make me look thick all the time. Marlene is fit but annoying and I don't care how many people wouldn't believe Donahue married me, it means I'd be married to a Veela anyway." Alex answered before all three of the boys then turned to look at Peter who was busy licking the sour remnants from his fingers.

"Please tell me you didnt answer." Sirius scoffed at the very thought. He knew exactly where Peter would have put Esme.

He shifted awkwardly. "They made me!" He pointed at Alex and Dean.

"We did not!" Alex laughed. "You were the first one to answer. Kill McKinnon, shag Evans and marry Donahue!"

Sirius just shook at his head and stood up, heading for the door. He knew Peter would have chose that. "I would've put money on that." He said, leaning against the door frame as he threw his bag over his shoulder.

"I'll play when you come up with the weirdo round." He told them.

"You can't do that!" Alex complained. "Come on, Peter answered! Who cares if she's your mate. You're telling me you've never even thought of her that way? Not even once?"

"Not even once." He replied. "She's like my sister, it's just weird. James would say the same thing, so would Remus."

"James said he'd shag Esme!" Peter squeaked. "That's way worse than what I said, Sirius. I only said it so I wouldn't have to kill her!"

"Kill Marlene, Shag McKinnon, Marry Esme..." Remus' voice could be heard faintly from behind his curtains. Peter breathed a sigh of relief.

Sirius choked on his own breath, clearing his throat before he was able to speak. Dean and Alex were in stitches at the sight of Sirius Black in the hot seat for once.

"I'll think about it." He growled, leaving the room and running down the stairs. He practically crashed into Esme at the bottom of the stairs as she was heading up to the girl's dorms. She stumbled backwards and into the brick wall behind her.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, hitting his arm. "Look where you're going. I thought you'd forgotten about me. What were you doing up there?"

"Nothing!" He answered quickly, turning her back around and marching her toward the common room door, glancing behind him nervously.

"Okay but you've wasted at least ten minutes of your half an hour..." She said, only just managing to grab her jumper in time as Sirius pushed her along by her shoulders.

"Yeah...okay." He nodded, not even listening to her. He would be having words with James later.


	6. The Three Broomsticks

"If I had known you wanted to sneak out to Hogsmead, I wouldn't have said yes." Esme complained, groaning as she pushed up the trap door that opened up into Honeydukes' cellar.

"You said you were thirsty." Shrugged Sirius, clambering up into the cellar after her before they both made their way up the stairs and into the shop. They had actually walked around the school for a good half hour before they had headed down the secret passageway behind Gunhilda's statue so he was well over his apparent allotted time limit of half an hour. She was just as willing to stay out as he was; he had known she would be in the end.

He had needed to get out of the castle, he needed to clear his head. He couldn't stop thinking about his earlier conversation with the boys, he had tried staring at Esme whenever she wasn't paying attention to try and see what they had been talking about. He agreed that yes, she was very pretty, but he just couldn't find it in him anywhere to actually be attracted to her, unlike James apparently. He was going to have to talk to him about that later. He didn't want anything going on there and ruining the friendship group forever.

But no, looking at her, all he could see was just Esme. The girl he had called Birdie since the age of 11. The sister he never had but would have been happy to have.

"Yeah...but I had meant maybe going down to the kitchens, not heading to the village in a blizzard." She threw the cloak over her shoulder and walked over to the front of the store to look out the windows. The whole of the village was dark besides the few street lamps an the only buildings that had any life in them now was the Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head and even then, she doubted many people had bothered to come out into the storm.

"Why would you have a Hot Chocolate when you could have a warm glass of Butterbeer instead." He frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets and going to stand beside her as they both looked out. "Though, maybe heading back to get a coat would've been a good idea."

"When have we ever done the sensible thing though?" She muttered, unlocking the door to the store with a flick of her wand. She took the cloak from her shoulder and threw it over the pair before they ventured out.

"Hogs Head will be quieter." He told her.

"Broomsticks it is then." Esme replied. It was a lot easier for the pair to be able to get away with stealing a glass of Butterbeer when the barmaid was busy serving others. It was also a lot easier to have a conversation under the cloak when it could be drowned out by the the hustle and bustle of the pub, even on a Tuesday night.

Their hands were numb by the time they reached the pub, despite the short journey. Sirius blasted the door open with his wand to make it look as though it had blown open from the wind and the two quickly scuttled in before a disgruntled wizard got up to shut it again.

The pair snuck behind the bar whilst the young barmaid Rosemerta had headed down into the cellar to collect something. She had just poured four glasses of Butterbeer so naturally, Sirius and Esme took two each. An opportunity that only the foolish would pass on. As the witch came back upstairs, she spun around in confusion looking for the drinks, finally believing that she must have imagined pouring them.

They both made their way to the very back of the pub, remaining hidden underneath the cloak as they both slid into a booth away from the rest of the customers. As soon as they sat down, Esme kicked off her shoes and socks that were soaked from the small trek from the shop to the pub and pulled her legs up onto the seat, prodding at Sirius' legs with her feet.

He shoved at her legs and tutted. "You're so annoying." Regardless, he moved so that she could tuck her feet under his legs to keep them warm.

They chatted about anything and everything as they drank, most of the conversation circulating back to the customers in the pub. Their favourite hobby was to Muggle-watch but seeing as that was unavailable, this came a close second. They would shush each other when the other laughed too loud, barely able to contain their own laughter as they scolded the other.

Sirius was already half way through his second glass when Esme placed her first down. She picked up her second and cupped both hands around the glass as she sipped it, watching the couple by the fire that they had just been talking about. Sirius leaned back in his seat and folded his arms as he looked at her, even though she was clearly happy about the outing, she did look exhausted. He had never seen the bags under eyes look so dark.

"How's Remus been lately, you know with the changes?" He asked.

Esme shrugged, wiping her lips clean of the cream remnants from the drink. "Not especially well...he's a lot more..." She paused, frowning as she tried to think about the best word to use.

"I want to say irritable...?" She decided, finally. "The screams are just awful, it's gotten a lot worse for him recently and I dont know if that's because he's getting older? I really dont know enough about it to say why."

"Irritable...' Sirius nodded, falling silent for a moment. He couldn't wait until the boys and him managed to become Animagi, they were so close he knew it only had to be a matter of time.

"But you're safe?" He somehow couldn't imagine Remus being irritable ever, he always seemed so calm and subdued. He suddenly didnt like the idea of Esme being out of her depth, if it meant she had to stop going, he wanted to know.

She just shrugged, taking another sip. "At the minute, how hard he seems to be taking it lately, if I turned up out of nowhere without him knowing me, I'd say definitely not. Don’t get me wrong, there's nothing left of Remus when he changes, Sirius. If he wanted to kill me, he could. I’ve been with him every change here for the past couple of years. He knows I'm not a threat so its a case of him allowing me to be there. I'll be fine."

Sirius just nodded, he supposed she was right. She had been with Remus for the majority of his changes at school. He guessed she knew better than anyone how to judge his behaviour as a werewolf.

"Besides, that'll be your job soon and I'll get to avoid Lily's questions every month."

Sirius pulled a face immediately. "Don't talk about Evans. I hear enough about her from James all day."

Esme laughed, wiggling her toes underneath his legs in an attempt to annoy him. "You sound jealous of her, Sirius. I wouldn't worry, there's no danger of losing James to her any time soon. She still very much hates you both."

He shifted his weight to the side her feet were under so she couldn't move them and he leaned back into his seat, folding his arms.

"Big deal, the feelings mutual on my end. Anyone who's willingly friends with that greasy git isn't right in the head. She doesn't laugh at a single prank, she won't even crack a smile at my jokes..." He ran his fingers through his hair to push it out of his eyes.

"Well, that's because you're not funny." Esme interjected, smirking at him slightly.

"Well we both know that's not true, Birdie. I've nearly made you wet yourself several times with laughter." He pointed out.

"Do you know, there's a fine line between love and hate? You want to be careful Sirius, anyone might think that you secretly love Lily." She laughed as she batted away an incoming blow.

"If the line is that thin I wish James would fall on the other side and gain some sense." He scowled.

"Oh Sirius, grow up. It's a crush, he'll get over it." She told him. "Just because you've never had a girlfriend that lasted more than a week."

"Only because you scare them off."

"That was one time!" She groaned, rolling her eyes.

"You made her bald."

"Only for a day! Do you know, everyone gave me such a hard time for that and she was asking for it." She rolled her eyes before going to down the rest of her drink.

"All she said was that you were a little bit vain. I'm inclined to agree." Sirius told her, hiding his smirk behind his fingers as he propped his chin up with his hand.

Upon hearing his words, Esme choked on her mouthful of Butterbeer and sent it flying back into the mug, splashing both herself in the face and Sirius.

He grimaced and wiped his face with his sleeve. "Smooth." He told her.

"I'm sorry..." She began, coughing as she tried to clear her lungs of the liquid. "But did you just call me vain? Sirius Black calling me vain? Sirius, we can't even go near the Black Lake without you checking your reflection out." She laughed.

"I never said I wasn't, with my outstanding good looks, it's no wonder I'm vain. We're talking about you here. Not me. I'd have thought that was your favourite hobby?"

She rolled her eyes, setting her mug back down onto the table. She waited until she was sure no one was looking before pushing them out from under the cover of the cloak. Not long after, Rosmerta collected them when she was walking past.

Was she going mad? She could have sworn nobody had been sat back here earlier when she walked past.

"Come on. Let's go back, I'm knackered. I gave you half an hour and we've been out for at least two hours..." She pulled her feet out from underneath him and bent down underneath the table to put her shoes and socks back on.

Just as she was about to sit back up, she yelped as Sirius shoved her back under the table, clambering underneath it with her.

"What are you-" She was cut off as Sirius covered her mouth with his hand and jerked his head for her to look out from beneath the table. As she did so, her eyes widened as four pairs of feet were making their way towards the booth. "Oh crap." She mumbled against Sirius' hand.

They both moved awkwardly in an attempt to avoid being hit by any of the legs as they sat down at the booth and as Sirius made an attempt to crawl out of from underneath the table, one of the men stretched his legs out ahead of him and blocked off their path. As a result, the pair were trapped under the table with no way to escape.

"This is your fault!" Esme hissed, glaring at Sirius as he fell down onto his backside. There was barely any room for either of them to sit down comfortably. Esme remained crouching with Sirius' legs either side of her.

"My fault?" He whispered. "How is it my fault?"

"You were the one who wanted to come here. I was quite happy to go have a hot chocolate in the kitchens where I could have been back in half an hour and have a good nights sleep. I should have just went for a run with James." She leaned to the side as one of the women crossed one leg over the other and narrowly avoided kicking Esme.

"Well, nothing we can do about it now." He grinned at her. All she could do was glare back at him. Maybe she would have found it funny if she hadn't been so tired.

The two of them sat in silence for the next ten minutes, with only the conversation of the double date taking place above them to keep them entertained. Esme's legs were aching from the crouching position she was in but there wasn't any room on her side of the table to sit down. Sirius was lucky, the two men on his side of the table were sat further apart from each other so he at least had the comfort of the space between them to lean back against.

Sirius had to clasp his hand over his mouth tostifle his laughter as Esme stared in horror when one of the women slipped off her shoes and crossed one leg over the other, putting her foot dangerously close to Esme's face.

"No, absolutely not. I'm sorry. Not today." She whispered, clambering over to Sirius' side.

'Move." She told him.

"Where?" He demanded in a hushed tone, grabbing her by the shoulders in an attempt to stop her from coming over into his space. "Stay there!"

"No! Swap with me!" She argued, trying to keep her voice down as the two wrestled beneath the table in an attempt to stay away from the bare feet.

"No way!" He tried his best not to laugh but as the second woman shifted in her seat, stretching out her legs in the space that Esme was currently in, Sirius quickly grabbed Esme and pulled her to sit in between his legs.

Esme blinked in a dazed fashion but was happy to be further away from the feet, even if it was only by a few inches. She folded her arms huffily and leaned back into Sirius, staring ahead of her. "I should've just went with James." She hissed.

Sirius just grinned, pulling his legs up so she was practically caged in between them. "No way, this was way more fun." He mumbled. "Who wants to go for a run in the snow?"

The two fell silent again, waiting for an opportunity to escape from beneath the table. They had hoped that someone would have gotten up to get more drinks but unfortunately Rosmerta had been coming over to take their orders.

Sirius snorted in amusement as he noticed the woman with no shoes on begin to rub her foot up and down the man's leg who was sat opposite her.

It wouldn't have been so amusing if it were not for the fact it was clearly not the man she was supposed to be on the date with.

He nudged Esme's arm to show her but she didn't respond. When she paid no attention to him, he shoved her again. "Birdie?" He hissed.

They had been under the table without saying a word to each other for so long that Esme had been unable to keep her eyes open for a second longer.

"Mm?" She mumbled tiredly, her head dropping back onto his shoulder as she shifted herself in her sleep to get more comfortable.

He rolled his eyes, moving his head to get a better look at her. "Of all the times to fall asleep...wake up you lazy cow." He muttered, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as he attempted to shake her awake.

He huffed when he realised she had properly passed out. He couldn't really blame her, she'd been up for a good 19 hours now. Without anything else to do, he took the opportunity to study her face close up, trying to figure out what it was that made all the boys bang on about her.

He just didn't get it. Most of the Gryffindor boys found it somewhat easy to talk to her because they lived in the dorm with her, but Sirius would watch boys from other houses sit and jumble their words to her if she even smiled at them.

Alex and Dean were in the same year and even they could only talk to her for a few minutes without getting tongue tied.

As he watched her, he couldn't help but laugh quietly when he imagined how she would've reacted to hearing about the answers the other boys had given in the game. She would have absolutely died at Peter's. Actually, maybe James' would've been worse.

At the sound of Sirius' laughter, a small smile pulled at Esme's lips subconsciously and as Sirius watched it, he suddenly felt his stomach twist awkwardly. He supposed she did have a nice smile, if he thought about it long enough.

His eyes widened and he stiffened considerably the moment he realised what had just happened. Had he actually just gotten butterflies over Esme? There was no way. It was just because he had been trying to put himself in someone else's shoes.

He gulped and looked back down at her to confirm he was right. He relaxed when he didn't get the feeling again. He knew he could never fancy Esme. It was too weird.

His eyes widened as the man to the left of him excused himself to go to the toilet and left the space free for the pair to escape. He looked down at Esme and shook her shoulders vigorously to wake her. Her eyes shot open and she glanced around her in a dazed fashion, tryingto work out where she was.

"Sirius?" She mumbled, squinting up at him. Sirius looked back down at her and his stomach twisted again the moment he locked his eyes with hers.

Fuck.

He was going to kill Alex and Dean.


End file.
